Air tests planned at Cohoes plant

Purpose is to see if incinerator meeting federal standards

Published 11:15 pm, Friday, April 19, 2013

A view of the emission stacks at the Norlite plant Monday, Jan. 11, 2010, in Cohoes, N.Y on (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

A view of the emission stacks at the Norlite plant Monday, Jan. 11, 2010, in Cohoes, N.Y on (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Photo: PAUL BUCKOWSKI

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Mike Connell, loader operator at Norlite Corp. in Cohoes, N.Y., dumps a load of 3/4 inch aggregate into a crusher which will produce smaller aggregate, at the plant on Monday, March 15, 2004. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union archive) less

Mike Connell, loader operator at Norlite Corp. in Cohoes, N.Y., dumps a load of 3/4 inch aggregate into a crusher which will produce smaller aggregate, at the plant on Monday, March 15, 2004. (Paul ... more

The owners of the state's only commercial hazardous waste incinerator are planning the first federally required air pollution control tests since high-temperature kilns were rebuilt under state orders two years ago because of a history of pollution violations.

Norlite will test its two kilns, where hazardous waste is burned during production of construction aggregate, on May 21, according to a notice filed with the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Required under its state-issued federal air pollution permit, the tests include a "confirmatory performance test" and a "continuous monitoring system performance evaluation test."

The notice indicated that test plans were filed for public inspection with the DEC regional office in Rotterdam and the Cohoes Public Library, but officials at both locations indicated the plans had not been received. The tests are meant to indicate whether Norlite meets new federal air emissions standards for hazardous waste incinerators.

"Norlite's manufacturing process is centered on recycling with environmentally sustainable practices," according to a statement from Plant Manager Mark Combs. "Our commitment to the regulatory process is ongoing. This periodic testing is part of a federal program and Norlite looks forward to working with state regulators during the upcoming test."

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Norlite spokesman Sean Casey said he was told the testing documents were at the library, but a library worker who checked for a reporter said the documents were not there.

The tests are required under the U.S. Clean Air Act every 31 months, and the May tests would be the first since Norlite rebuilt its two high-temperature kilns as part of an April 2010 settlement with DEC. About eight months earlier, an investigation by the Times Union had found potentially troubling problems within its air pollution records routinely filed with the DEC.

Under the settlement, DEC slapped Norlite with a $90,000 fine and ordered repairs. Earlier state inspections had found Norlite was burning an improper mix of hazardous waste, with DEC charging the firm with 62 pollution violations under the U.S. Clean Air Act between November 2008 and April 2009.

In the consent order, DEC also imposed a 19-point agenda on Norlite to upgrade equipment, improve the structural integrity of the plant and provide for proper emergency planning. The status of the agenda's completeness could not be immediately determined Friday. Calls for comment to DEC were not returned.

The 250-acre Norlite plant is one of only two kilns in the country that makes construction materials — known as aggregate — by burning hazardous waste to heat locally-mined shale. In 2007, the plant accounted for more than 70 percent of all hazardous waste burned statewide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.

EPA records indicate that a number of customers send PCBs to be burned. Those records indicated the state Health Department was among those customers, but the Health Department said while it had shipped solvents to Norlite, EPA records that showed shipments included PCBs were inaccurate.

As part of the state settlement, Norlite had to essentially "double-bag" its two 2,000-degree kilns by encasing the kilns in containment vessels meant to prevent pollution from leaking out through cracks before reaching the stacks.

Also, for the first time since the plant opened in 1955, the company was required to provide DEC with an electronic link to watch over air pollution monitors as emissions enter two smokestacks, which tower over public housing authority homes and a private residential neighborhood.

Part of the investigation found that Norlite had burned excessive levels of solid beyond what was authorized in its air pollution permit, although the investigation did not make clear what that may have meant for air pollution levels. The state also charged the company failed to replace missing seals designed to reduce air emissions from its kiln; failed to notify the state as required when pollution levels forced the flow of hazardous waste to shut down; had gaps in its data on plant emissions; and dumped pollution into the nearby Salt Kill creek during a July 2009 flood.